Tag Archives: Classic Quad

Alfie Boe in Fleetwood: Wow!

Wow, what a night we had in Fleetwood on Saturday! Before I’ve even started this review, I’ve run out of superlatives – Alfie was on phenomenal form, holding the audience in the palm of his hand from beginning to end and basking in the love shown to him by the town, love that was clearly reciprocated.

Throwing in songs that spanned Alfie’s most recent albums (Serenata, Trust, Classic Quad, Together and Together Again) and a selection of songs Alfie clearly loves, this felt like a very personal set list – there wasn’t one song that didn’t work.  Opening with Sing, Sing, Sing from his new swing album (November 2018), Alfie demonstrated a mastery of yet another musical genre:

Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Lead was just one of several new songs we heard, along with Ophelia, Wichita Lineman, Islands in the Stream, with backing singer Tor (loved this one), Queen’s Spread Your Wings and Pinball Wizard / See Me Feel Me medley from The Who’s Tommy.  Would have liked to hear Pinball Wizard all the way through – even better, I’d like to hear Alfie singing this with the Kaiser Chiefs, who, to my mind, do the best live cover of this. Click here to see more videos from Linda Wellington and Annie Lloyd.

As always, the band were amazing, with Murray, Dan and Tonksy being joined by Pete on guitar and Nigel on keyboards.  Backing singer Tor has also been with Alfie before, on the Together tours and the brass section were magnificent:

The addition of Pete seems to indicate that playing guitar for Alfie necessitates a lot of hair (Dan on bass needs to step into line) but both Pete and Nigel slotted right into the band whilst also bringing something new into the dynamic.  With only these few concerts lined up, let’s hope that we see more of Pete and Nigel in the future.

The song choice was weighted heavily in favour of those that could be danced to but of course Alfie found time for Bring Him Home, or Bring It Home as he said a lot of people call it (I once sat next to someone , in Blackpool of all places, who said I think he sings a song called Take Me Home – perhaps she was wishfully thinking!), preceded by the song he sang on Britain’s Got Talent, The Way You Look Tonight.  Both were outstanding, accompanied by one of the brass section and Murray, respectively; Alfie stayed in the Bring Him Home bubble a lot longer than usual and was clearly moved when he saw the audience reaction.

To the crowd’s evident delight, the second half started with Alfie and the band taking to the stage with the new Fleetwood Town FC strip, personalised in each case and as he did throughout the evening, did a shout out for Trinity Hospice, who were out in force with collection buckets.  Alfie is their patron.

When this homecoming concert was first announced it was clear that it would be a concert like no other and not to be missed.  Alfie singing in Blackpool is something special but Fleetwood is in a category of its own.  Throw in Jimmy watching from his upstairs window and Alfie’s Aunty Eileen almost stealing the show and you have the perfect evening.  Alfie thought so, asking “why haven’t I done this before, it’s great” and declaring that he definitely wanted to return and do it again – the roar of appreciation as he said this indicates there’ll be a ready and willing audience.  He was having such a great time, when it was finished (latest concert ever at 11.30!) he then popped into Highbury social club for a dance!  He’s come a long way from the Marine Hall.

On a personal note, it was lovely to see so many fans and special thanks to those who found time to say hello, much appreciated.  Wouldn’t have been the same without seeing so many friends, Paul and Pauline, Jennifer, Donna, Chelley, Linda Evans, Sonia, Pat and Janet, Carole, Karen, Jean, Nancy, Marj, Andrea, Carole and Eric, Jayne and Linda W (thanks for the videos).  Sue, Pauline, Roberta, Annie, Angie and Cecelia, not to mention my bestie Linda A made a fabulous night even more special with a great after party that went on into the wee small hours!

Before I go, can I ask a favour for Alfie and Michael?  They have made it to the shortlist for Album of the Year at the Classic BRITS and need your vote – thank you!

 

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Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2018: No. 4

From last week’s new entry into the top ten Alfie Boe Live Songs 2018, we now have a song in it’s second year of the chart but one that has made a huge impact on both singer and audience.  Love Reign O’er Me jumped into second place in 2017 after first jumping into our lives at the world premiere of Classic Quadrophenia in 2015:

Since then, the song has rarely been missing from Alfie’s live repertoire and never fails to thrill audiences; his voice is perfected matched to the notes and and the emotional intensity required.  The vast majority of Who fans have been won over by Alfie’s interpretation of Love Reign and it’s always a pleasure to see new fans find and appreciate Alfie.  Here is the original, at Live Aid:

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Signed Classic Quadrophenia Programmes – Winners!

It seems ages ago now but Classic Quadrophenia in the US has finished and so has our competition to win four programmes signed by Alfie – yes, you’re right in that the original post said three, but another one came back to the UK with Annie.  Thanks so much to Roberta, Cecelia and Annie for getting Alfie to sign them and to Linda A for passing the last one from A to B.

With further ado, the winners are:

Angie Pells

Kate Devaney

Diane Lilga

Jennifer Parr

Well done ladies, please send me your address via the contact page – click here.

Alfie and Michael yesterday released a video of Maria as part of the West Side Story Medley from Together Again:

Wonder if this will be their song on Strictly this year?  No idea if they will appear but it’s a great slot for autumn album releases and they already have their dancing set up!

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Alfie Boe Stuns NYC in Classic Quadrophenia

This weekend saw the second and third performances of Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia, this time at The Met in New York.  Just prior to this, Alfie and Pete appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, an appearance that gained Alfie a whole lot more fans, judging by the social media reaction.

For those of us not lucky enough to be there, our regular New York reporter, Roberta Kappus was in attendance and has sent us her review.  This time, however, it’s a joint effort with Annie Lloyd and another regular reviewer, Cecelia Powell.

Saturday 9 September marked Alfie Boe’s debut at the Met and it was amazing.  The vehicle, Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia, is unusual for the Met but with a symphony orchestra and choir conducted by Robert Ziegler and the power and range of Alfie Boe’s voice there is no doubt that the setting was right.  The audience not only agreed but enthusiastically showed their appreciation throughout the show.  People had come from thousands of miles and different countries to be at there and it was a diverse group: Robert Ziegler fans, Pete Townshend fans, Billy Idol fans, Alfie Boe fans and those who just really liked Classic Quadrophenia.

Alfie’s entrance was both typical Alfie and unique to Saturday’s show. He came bounding on stage at break neck speed, punching the air, jumping and leaping, going right into The Real Me.  The audience loved it – the applause was instantaneous at Alfie’s appearance and at least five times during this song alone, the audience burst into further applause.  Throughout, Alfie was in constant motion, completely owning the stage.  He covered the whole area, moving left to right and back again and it’s a big stage.  His jumping was spectacular, with legs going in different directions. That got a tremendous response.  Alfie’s voice has never been stronger.  Every word was clear.  All the notes hit perfectly. This was Alfie in his element giving everything he had.  There was no sign he was pacing himself for two nights in a row.

Not too long into the show the audience became part of the performance. Clapping with the music was encouraged and every time Alfie held out the microphone the audience responded.  And in typical Alfie fashion he had the audience on its feet dancing along with the music.  The audience was loving Alfie and Alfie was loving them back. F*@k  was delivered at full force with Alfie at the front of the stage and a great deal of accompaniment by all of us. There was a slight mishap with Helpless Dancer which just added to a memorable evening.  Alfie started with words from the middle of the song! This is sung with Pete who just continued on from where Alfie had begun, although as Alfie realised his error,  he stopped singing and cued Ziegler to start again.  To paraphrase Alfie if you are going to mess up make sure you do it at the Met. Turning to face the audience he loudly pronounced “I’m fired.”  It was all handled very well and with great confidence by Alfie. There was no awkwardness involved and Alfie began the song again this time with the correct words and the audience applauding.

As can be expected, Billy’s entrance  was greeted by loud applause and Pete’s appearance earned thunderous applause and a standing ovation.  Pete was more intense than I have seen him in prior performances even breaking into a monstrous air guitar routine to the delight of all and mimicked Alfie’s dance steps as he had the prior Saturday at Tanglewood.  Over the two years since the world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, the relationship between Pete and Alfie seems to have moved on.  At RAH Pete was the boss; Now, while Alfie may still be in awe of him they are clearly friends.  Ziegler had his share of fans in the audience with a number of people standing and applauding when he first appeared on stage.

Finally, as the orchestra began the intro to Love Reign O’er Me it seemed as though there was a collective intake of breath from the audience in anticipation.  Alfie more than nailed it.  It was the best any of us have ever heard.  The lushness of the orchestration, the richness and power of Alfie’s voice combined with the majesty of the Met made this the perfect venue for the song and it was more than appropriate that Alfie put his whole being into singing this. A thunderous standing ovation followed. It was truly an honour to be at there.

Thank you Roberta, Cecelia and Annie for a wonderful review – and let’s face it, it wouldn’t be Alfie if he didn’t mess up somewhere or other!

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Alfie Boe Rocks in Classic Quad USA

Saturday 2 September was the first date on the five date US tour of Pete Townshend’s Classic Quadrophenia. Two years on from the world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall, the show bounded onto the US stage at Tanglewood and featured the Boston Pops orchestra and choir, conducted by Keith Lockhart (Robert Ziegler, original conductor of both the concert and recording, will replace Lockhart for the remaining dates).  This concert was something that many US fans had hoped fervently would happen and our regular stateside reporter, Roberta Kappus, was among them.  Here is her review:

It was apparent early on that the audience was familiar with both Quadrophenia and it’s classical partner as  they not only knew all the words but also the music as evidenced by the applause  and verbal approval at several points before the vocals began.  I love the orchestration.  It is lush, lavish, rich and Lockhart and the Boston Pops did it justice. The audience showed its knowledge and appreciation throughout by cheering and applauding as certain segments achieved the anticipated expression and/or punch.

People had driven hundreds of miles to see this. They had come from other countries. For most of them Pete Townshend and Billy Idol were the drawing cards; Boe was an unknown quantity even though a Classic Quadrophenia album had been released two years earlier. Reflecting this, both Townshend and Idol were greeted on stage by thunderous applause.  However, with the power of his voice and intense energy Boe held his own when performing with these two giants; indeed, as Townshend has said on several occasions most of the vocal work falls to Boe.  The mutual respect Townshend, Idol and Boe have for each other was palpable during the performance. As someone else commented, we watched “…a world class tenor slide on his knees across a stage ending up at Pete’s feet.” It was an evening filled with amazing moments and this was one of them.

It was also an evening marked at certain points with camaraderie and just plain fun.  Part of Boe’s choreography is a side to side bounce going from one foot to the other.  This, along with other jumps and spins that Boe has frequently incorporated into other performances propelled Boe around the stage last night with Townshend and even Lockhart joining in from the podium.  Townshend went so far as to add a ballet spin with one arm curved over his head at the end of a side stepping moment and then gave Boe a kiss on the forehead before leaving the stage.  When I saw Boe at the stage door after the show (he was kind enough to stop and sign programmes and tickets) I asked him if he had had as much fun on stage as it seemed. He responded that this performance had been a lot of fun for all of them.

Looking back it almost seemed as though the first half had been a test which Boe and Lockhart had passed.  After the intermission they returned to the stage together to huge applause which had not been there at the start of the programme.  During the second half the audience was more than ready to help by singing the rest of the songs. Anyone familiar with Boe knows he loves audience participation and this was no different.  He was signalling with hand gestures for people to join in which they did; the audience was singing the choir’s parts, Boe was responding and everyone was having a good time.  Lockhart even joined in, clapping along while conducting.

Climaxing the show was Love Reign O’er Me with its brilliant symphonic intro.  Boe’s vocal power and range, his intensity, his immersion into the part resulted in a performance that can only be described as an unequalled tour de force that brought the audience to its feet where they remained through the curtain call, the presentation of the flowers to all the principals (with everyone but Fuller and Lockhart tossing them into the audience) and the encore which was The Real Me with everyone on stage singing it.  The standing ovation continued through everyone’s departure from the stage including the orchestra and choir. It was as though a spell had been cast over everyone inside the Shed and no one wanted to be the first one to break it.

Wow, what a fabulous review Roberta, sounds like everyone had a great time…and I’m sure Alfie came away with a lot of new fans.  Here’s a short video from the evening:

Classic Quadrophenia is available here:

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Eliane’s Six Sensational Songs

August is traditionally a quiet time for Alfie Boe and his fans and 2017 is no exception.  How lucky then that we have Eliane’s Six Sensational Songs to keep us going!  Eliane is from Brazil and first started following Alfie after seeing him at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 – here are her six songs.

O Sole Mio / Now or Never – Eliane says “unforgettable, the first time I’ve seen or heard Alfie”.

I’m showing the clip of Trust instead of a full performance as Elaine fell in love with this and it’s now her ringtone!

Dimming of the Day – Eliane’s heart “gets tight, especially in the line ‘I see you on the street in company'” – I’m right there with you on that Eliane.

My Heart is Yours, chosen because Eliane “loves the sweetness and poetry of the lyrics” which as we know, were written by Alfie himself.

Parlami D’Amore Mariu, because Eliane “loves Alfie singing in Italian” – a lot of fans would agree!  This performance is from way back in early 2012.

For the third time, Love Reign O’er Me from Classic Quad has been chosen to be part of this series, making it equal to Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna and second only to A Living Prayer.

Thanks Eliane for your choices – yet again, I’m amazed that each selection gives us at least one song not nominated before.  Altogether we have chosen thirty nine Alfie songs – impressive!  If you would like to join the series, please fill in the form:

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Alfie Boe 4th Annual Best Ever Song: The Top Ten

Voting has now closed in the 2017 Best Ever Alfie Boe song poll and the following playlist contains the top ten:

 

In 2016, the top ten looked like this:

1 – Love Reign O’er Me
2 – Dimming of the Day
3 – Trust
4 – Bring Him Home
5 – First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
6 – My Heart is Yours
7 – It’s Over
8 – A Living Prayer
9 – If You Go Away
10 – Forever Young

The first thing that strikes me about this year’s list is that there is only one song from Alfie’s most successful commercial album, Together – whether this has anything to do with it not being a solo album, I couldn’t say.

In contrast to previous years, Bring Him Home is now the only song to feature in every top ten, with just two more songs featuring in two top ten countdowns.  In addition to Anthem, there are two more new entries in Wheels of a Dream and In My Daughter’s Eyes.  This means that for the first time, A Living Prayer drops out of the top ten.

Last year we saw a definite move away from Alfie’s classical repertoire towards the rockier albums and 2017 continues in the same vein, albeit this time we are seeing a resurgence in the musical theatre songs.  I can definitely see the influence of Together in these choices – it seems that hearing Alfie sing a lot of musical theatre songs in recent months, as well as his appearance in Carousel has prompted more votes for this genre of music.  Trust remains the strongest album over all the polls so far, with Alfie having two tracks and one each for Bring Him Home, Classic Quadrophenia, Storyteller, Serenata, Together and La Passione.

Stay tuned for next week’s reveal of number 10 – we’ll be counting down until the beginning of the summer tour!

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Alfie Boe’s 4th Annual Best Ever Song Poll

Welcome to the fourth annual Best Ever Alfie Boe Song poll!  In each of the previous three polls, a different song has come out on top:

Bring Him Home

Addio Sogni Di Gloria

Love Reign O’er Me

This year, we have a new album of songs to be considered and so I’m now asking for your nominations.  The current longlist of songs can be found on Spotify here – if your favourite isn’t there, nominate it on the form below:

Nominations will close at the end of the week and the poll will open next week.

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Love Reign O’er Leeds with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball

My third concert review of the Together tour with Alfie Boe and Michael Ball and for me, the outstanding moment of the night, amongst many outstanding moments was Alfie’s Love Reign O’er Me from Classic Quadrophenia.  Majestic, powerful, vocally astonishing, touching, moving, emotional – there just aren’t enough superlatives and adjectives to describe how Alfie sang this song last night.  I’ve now heard Alfie sing this a number of times and each time I find something more to love about the performance.  This time, I even found myself with a few tears by the end of the song.  Judging by the audience response, this powerhouse performance was hugely appreciated by everyone else in the arena.  Take a look at Alfie’s photo from Twitter:

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As for the rest of the concert, there was only one thing I didn’t like…it was over too soon!  The music and the onstage antics and banter of Alfie and Michael swept me along that I couldn’t believe it when they came to the end of the first half and said “see you in a bit”.  In this first half, Speak Softly Love was another emotional song for me (the first lot of tears – previously, I hadn’t cried at all on this tour!) but the song that got the best reaction from the audience was a gorgeous rendition of Tell Me It’s Not True (thanks Linda W for sharing):

As you can see from this video, Alfie’s had a bit of a hair cut this week and, dare I say it, I’m not all that keen (sorry, Alfie).  You may all have different thoughts?

One of the joys of seeing more than one concert on a tour is comparing songs and performances along the way.  This is particularly applicable to this tour where the set list seems to be the same for each concert – for newer Alfie fans, previous concerts have had more flexibility in this regard, even though there is a basic set list.  Although I’ve seen Michael in concert before, it’s only been one concert on a tour so I have no means of knowing if he sticks rigidly to the same set list for the whole tour.  Thinking about the Together tour, the concert seems smoother and slicker each time I see it (which is lovely but sometimes those moments where it all goes wrong make it all the more special) but this has the unexpected advantage that I pay more attention to the different nuances in performance.  The beginning of the second half seemed much more relaxed to me, even more so than the Palladium; Alfie and Michael have slipped into an easy working and performing relationship that enables them to adapt and ad lib without upsetting the overall performance level.  Jokes and other improvised moments enhance the balance of the duets without ever letting the audience feel that the wheels might come off at any minute.

In my previous two reviews, I’ve necessarily concentrated on Alfie’s performance (not surprisingly you might say) but now I feel compelled to write something about Michael’s solo spot in the show.  His opening number is Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar and after giving us a rather sweet story of his introduction to the musical, he launches into a superbly acted and sung performance that got better as the song went on.  In previous shows I felt that there were a few too many overly theatrical flourishes (yes, I know it’s a musical theatre song and he’s a musical theatre star) and indeed the opening bars of the song in Leeds went the same way.  But then, something magical happened and Michael gave us a fantastic interpretation of the turmoil of the song that made me totally believe in the character and not just Michael Ball singing a song.  A deserved standing ovation duly followed, with another for Love Changes Everything hot on it’s heels.  Bravo Michael.

I have two more opportunities to see the fabulous duo of Ball and Boe do their thing but they’re a while away now so I’m already having withdrawal symptoms.  See you in Hammersmith and Manchester, boys!

Together is available here:

together-album-cover

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Heaven is a Saturday Night at the Palladium with Alfie and Michael…

…and a few of my closest Alfie friends of course!  So many friends were there last night which made the evening all the more special – thanks as well to everyone who came to say hello.  This was the first time I’ve brought a non Alfie friend to a concert and needless to say I got home to a text from Lucy saying she is his newest fan (Alfie and Michael sang her childrens’ favourite song)!  Mission accomplished – we may well be seeing her at more Alfie events in the future!

The title of this review is Heaven is a Saturday Night at the Palladium and the show really was a slice of heaven from beginning to end and, coming together with the perfection of Bournemouth, served as a welcome reminder just why thoughtsofjustafan came to,  and continues to, exist.  In other words, I fell in love all over again. This isn’t just because of the inclusion of my favourite song of all time, Keep Me In Your Heart (all together now, my favourite line is……..) but the overall balance of the show to accentuate the best qualities of both singers.  Michael’s cute and cuddly charming persona is well and truly on show but this encourages rather than hinders Alfie’s quieter stage presence; both are in their element and a week on from the start of the tour, are becoming more relaxed with each other, the set list, the short dance moments and the audience.

The stand out songs were once again Love Reign O’er Me from Classic Quadrophenia, Love Changes Everything and the Les Mis Medley but this time around, I was in a much better position to appreciate the vocal delights of Music of the Night and the Bond segment.  Alfie’s last note on Thunderball was exceptional and how I failed to mention that last week is a mystery!  The duet on Skyfall was also a goosebump moment and I’d like to hear a full length version some time.

Loved the Elvis segment although Alfie’s guitar was missed (bring it back for Leeds Alfie), especially the barn storming Suspicious Minds which evoked sweet memories of Carfest South three years ago.  With events across the pond this week Tell Me It’s Not True took on a whole new meaning and Alfie and Michael lost no time in exploiting it to the full.  Of the other album tracks we heard, A Thousand Years was again wonderful but on this occasion, I think Speak Softly from The Godfather was my favourite.  Perhaps this is one of those tours where I’ll have a new favourite song at each concert…I’ve got three more opportunities to find out.

Another highlight was the surprise appearance of Rick Astley who of course is also a guest on Alfie and Michael’s ITV special – no rehearsal but you would never have guessed (thanks for sharing Linda W):

In case you missed the fabulous news this Friday, Alfie and Michael Together entered the album charts at number two – awesome result (unless you’re Robbie’s dad from last night’s audience)!

Also, don’t forget Alfie and Michael are appearing on BBC Breakfast tomorrow (Monday 14th) and it’s a day of double delights with Children In Need Rocks for Terry televised at 8.30pm that evening.

Together is available here:

together-album-cover

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